Markos of Kephallonia

Markos of Kephallonia was a Greek wine merchant from Cephalonia. He was locally known for his "get rich quick" schemes, for his frequent inability to pay his debts, and for his comic nature, and he trained the young girl Kassandra to become a renowned misthios (mercenary) after taking her under his wing in 446 BC.

Early life
Markos was born on Cephalonia, and he was known to be a con man who sought to get rich quick. In 446 BC, he found an unconscious Kassandra after she washed up on the beaches of Cephalonia, and he offered to give her food and take care of her if she would run errands for him. He took her in and raised her to become a renowned mercenary on the island, and she would often help him get out of his many troubles.

Cyclops troubles
By 431 BC, he had become heavily indebted to the Cyclops of Kephallonia, a one-eyed bandit leader, as Markos had used a large sum of borrowed money to buy himself a large vineyard to the south of Mount Ainos. The Cyclops sent men to harass Kassandra about paying back Markos' debts, so Kassandra confronted Markos and demanded that they work on a plan to relieve Markos' debts. Firstly, she convinced the merchant Duris to absolve Markos of his debts, and she later helped Markos' associate Drucilla with recovering lost lumber in exchange for more help for Markos. Markos finally decided that the best course of action would be to steal the Cyclops' obsidian eye from his lair and sell it for a high price, and Kassandra did so stealthily. Kassandra returned the eye to Markos, who warned her that the Cyclops had returned at Kleptous Bay. Kassandra proceeded to slay the Cyclops, ending Markos' troubles, and she later prepared a ship and planned to leave the island to carry out Elpenor's assassination contract on "The Wolf of Sparta" on Megaris. Markos gave her a goodbye hug after catching her at the docks, and he promised his other pupil, Phoibe, that he would take her on adventures while Kassandra was gone.